The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
is a 2007 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is the fourteenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series and the direct sequel to the 2002 GameCube game The Wind Waker. Phantom Hourglass was released worldwide in 2007, with the exception of South Korea in April 2008. It was re-released for the Wii U via the Virtual Console service in the PAL region in November 2015, in North America in May 2016, and in Japan in August 2016.
The game features 3D cel-shaded graphics with an overhead camera perspective, employs controls involving the console's touchscreen and microphone, and took advantage of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online play until the service was discontinued in 2014. The game's story follows that of The Wind Waker, focusing on series main character Link's journey to save his friend Tetra from the story's main antagonist, Bellum, with the help of Captain Linebeck and his ship, the S.S. Linebeck.
Phantom Hourglass received critical acclaim, with praise for its control scheme, world design, and graphics, while some criticized its online features, which were considered too simple. The game received several video game industry awards, including the Nintendo DS Game of the Year award from GameSpot, GameSpy, and IGN. Phantom Hourglass was the best-selling game in its first month in Japan, with 302,887 copies sold. In the United States, it was the fifth-best-selling game in the month it debuted, with 262,800 copies sold. 4.13 million copies of Phantom Hourglass were sold worldwide by March 2008. A sequel, Spirit Tracks, was released in December 2009.
Gameplay
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is an action-adventure game with gameplay similar to the other games in The Legend of Zelda series. The player controls Link and explores the world to find new items, information, and allies to help him save his friend Tetra and defeat the antagonist Bellum. The game is divided into two gameplay types: sailing between islands, and exploring the islands and their dungeons on foot. While on land, Link discovers and utilizes many items, including the classic boomerang, bow, and bombs. When sailing, the game shows a map of the area on the Nintendo DS's top screen, and a 3D top-down view of Link and his nearby surroundings on the lower touchscreen. The player can bring down the map from the top screen to the lower screen to make notes. During certain events, including most boss battles, a 3D view is shown on both screens, allowing the player to have a wider view of their surroundings. The player controls Link with the stylus, moves him by pointing to the sides of the screen, and uses the stylus to interact with objects and people or attack foes by pointing at them. To travel between islands on the Great Sea, the player controls a paddle steamer called the S.S. Linebeck. The player can plot a course by drawing on a sea chart, redraw the course to make any necessary alterations, shoot at enemies that attack the ship using a cannon, and jump to avoid obstacles.The game includes a one-on-one multiplayer battle mode. In an arena, one player controls Link, while the other player, on defense, controls three Phantom Guardians. Players of both sides are aided by power-up items that appear on the playing field. Link's goal is to grab a Force Gem and carry it to his base. The other player, controlling the three Phantom Guardians, must find and catch Link before he returns any Force Gems. When Link is caught, or if the round is over, players switch sides. Each multiplayer game consists of three rounds, and in each round, each player takes a turn at both sides. The maximum length of a multiplayer game is 12 minutes, assuming Link does not get caught. The game supports multiplayer both locally and online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, as well as Download Play. The game is the third The Legend of Zelda game to include multiplayer, following Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures.
Phantom Hourglass introduces the game mechanic of a large dungeon central to the game's story, in this case the Temple of the Ocean King. Link visits the Temple multiple times during the course of the game's story, in order to obtain sea charts that allow him to sail to other parts of the ocean. Throughout the game, the Temple has a curse placed on it that drains Link's life whenever he is inside, but upon obtaining the Phantom Hourglass, Link is able to explore the Temple without being affected by the curse for a limited amount of time. In addition to the curse, Link must contend with Phantoms, a type of enemy exclusive to the Temple. Phantoms are invincible for the most part, necessitating the use of stealth in order to get past them. "Safe zones" are scattered throughout the Temple, and allow Link to avoid both the Phantoms and the Temple's curse. As Link progresses through the game, he is able to access deeper levels of the Temple and stay inside for longer. The Temple, including the puzzles within, will reset whenever Link leaves, but as he obtains new items, he can unlock new routes and shortcuts that enable him to travel through the Temple quicker. All this is done similarly to a dungeon crawler.
Plot
Following the events of The Wind Waker, Link and Tetra travel the Great Sea aboard Tetra's ship to find new land, when they encounter the Ghost Ship, a ragged ship that appears from a sudden mist. Tetra enters it and is heard screaming. Link fails to come to her help and falls into the ocean as the Ghost Ship vanishes. Washed ashore on Mercay Island, Link meets the fairy Ciela and her adoptive grandfather, Oshus, and both agree to help him rescue Tetra. Link enlists Captain Linebeck, a miserly treasure hunter who believes the Ghost Ship houses great treasure.The group learns that the Temple of the Ocean King contains sea-glyphs that function as maps, though these are guarded by fierce Phantoms. To access the glyphs, Link must free the three Spirits from various temples: one of Power, one of Wisdom, and one of Courage. After freeing the Spirit of Power, Link obtains the Phantom Hourglass, a vessel for the Sands of Time that enable him to explore the Temple of the Ocean King without draining his life force.
Upon rescuing the Spirit of Courage, the group notices its similarity to Ciela. Oshus arrives and reveals that Ciela is one half of the Spirit of Courage; Oshus split Ciela's soul into two after she was attacked by Bellum, a demon who consumes all life. With the three Spirits rescued, Link locates the Ghost Ship and finds Tetra, only to find her lifeless and petrified. Oshus reveals that he is the Ocean King and that he took human form after battling Bellum, whom he trapped in the depths of his Temple. He instructs Link to seek three pure metals which can be crafted into the Phantom Sword, a blade capable of defeating Phantoms and Bellum; only by defeating Bellum, Oshus says, can Tetra be restored to life. Linebeck is devastated that there is no treasure aboard the Ghost Ship, but continues to help Link when Oshus promises to grant him one wish in return for his aid.
After acquiring the Phantom Sword, Link defeats Bellum in the Temple's depths. He is teleported out to Linebeck's ship, where he reunites with a revived Tetra, only for Bellum to take Tetra away to the Ghost Ship. Link destroys the Ghost Ship using Linebeck's cannon, but Bellum possesses Linebeck and forces him to fight Link. In the course of battle, Link kills Bellum, frees Linebeck, and rescues Tetra, though Linebeck's ship is destroyed and the Phantom Hourglass's sand whisks away in the sea. Oshus returns to his true form as a white whale and leaves with the Spirits, granting Linebeck his wish; Linebeck forgoes his wish for treasure to have his ship restored instead. Link and Tetra are teleported back to Tetra's ship, but Tetra's crew insists their adventure was only a ten-minute dream. Link is confused as he holds the empty Phantom Hourglass in his hands; looking to the horizon, he sees Linebeck's ship.
Development
The development started in May 2004, at which point the game still had gameplay similar to Four Swords Adventures. At a press conference in Japan for the Nintendo DS in October, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo said that they were thinking of bringing Four Swords to the DS, which was later confirmed by Eiji Aonuma at E3 2005. In 2006, Nintendo presented the keynote address at the annual Game Developers Conference, where they also revealed Phantom Hourglass for the first time and presented a demo. Nintendo also revealed that the game would be released in late 2006. For the holiday season, Nintendo launched two special edition Nintendo DS bundles, each in a different color, on November 23, 2007. One of the bundles, the Gold edition, was emblazoned with The Legend of Zeldas signature Triforce logo and sold alongside Phantom Hourglass.The same development team that worked on Four Swords Adventures also worked on what would become Phantom Hourglass. In the game's first prototype, the action took place in the upper screen while the touchscreen was a flat map that allowed Link to be controlled. However, the developers believed that this interface caused the player to be too disconnected from the game's action, thereby prompting them to switch the two screens. They felt that this interface would appeal to Japanese players, who they said prefer simple interfaces. The developers added a battle mode that was played over Wi-Fi to appeal to American players.
The game takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's stylus in several different ways. The player can draw shapes to open certain doors and plot out the path of ships on the ocean, among other tasks. The device's touchscreen can also be used to direct Link's boomerang. Phantom Hourglass features cel-shaded graphics similar to those of The Wind Waker, with some influence from Four Swords Adventures. Link and Zelda's appearances in Phantom Hourglass resemble those from The Wind Waker.
At E3 2007, Aonuma said that Phantom Hourglass "opened up the series and a fresh, new control scheme to the aging Zelda formula". He also said that, despite the disappointing sales of The Wind Waker affecting him personally, he still wished to continue the game's style in another Zelda iteration, leading to the inspiration for Phantom Hourglass. Aonuma believed that the game's simple controls, with the help of the Nintendo DS's touchscreen, helped make Phantom Hourglass the first Zelda game to attract casual gamers.